1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory element mounting method for mounting a memory element on a sheet of paper and an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet of paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common practice to attach bar codes, which represent commodity codes, to commodities and identify each commodity by reading the attached bar code with a bar-code reader (scanner). Associating each commodity with information about the commodity facilitates management of distribution, inventory and selling of commodities.
However, bar codes can provide only limited amounts of information. In addition, since the bar-code information is obtained by reading the bar-code configuration, bar codes are vulnerable to dirt, and the areas of commodities in which bar codes can be attached are restricted. To avoid such disadvantages, in recent years, wireless microchips (that is, IC tags) attached to commodities have become utilized, instead of the bar codes. The IC tags have advantages that one with an adequate data capacity can be chosen according to the purpose thereof and that, since the information is obtained from the IC tag using a radio wave, the IC tag can be disposed inside the commodity package. In addition, there have been developed inexpensive IC tags of various shapes, and IC tags that is supplied with power through an antenna and can be used semipermanently without a battery. Thus, it is expected that IC tags will be attached to all the commodities and widely used for a variety of purposes, not only for the commodity management purpose.
In the field of printing, there has been proposed a technique that attaches an IC tag to a sheet of paper for commodity management or print processing control.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-287170, there is described a technique that attaches an IC label, in which the image ID, correction information required for image correction or the like is recorded, to the back of a photograph and utilizes the information when placing a repeat order for photograph printing. According to this technique, a repeat order can be easily placed only by bringing the photograph to a photo studio. However, there is a possibility that the IC label may peel off the photograph by a finger scratching the IC label when a user sees the photograph or by the photograph rubbing against another photograph, for example.
Besides, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-286683, there is described a technique that previously embeds an IC element, in which information about a printing procedure is recorded, in a sheet of paper and conducts printing in accordance with the information. In recent years, a microchip that has a length of 0.4 mm, a width of 0.4 mm and a thickness of 0.06 mm (manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.) has been developed. If such a small IC element is embedded in a sheet of paper, the IC element is not obtrusive when a user sees the print image, and it is possible to eliminate the disadvantage that the IC element peels off.
Here, according to the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-286683, printing is conducted using the sheet of paper in which an IC element is previously embedded. Therefore, there are problems that the IC element may be cut away when cutting the sheet of paper to the size of the print image and that the IC element is wasted if a print requires no IC element.